Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Week Five Notes

NEW ORLEANS – North Texas freshman Carnae Dillard was named the Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Player of the Week, while Western Kentucky junior Ashley Potts earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second consecutive week, the league office announced Monday.

Dillard, a native of San Antonio, Texas, powered the Mean Green to a sweep over Baylor and a 2-0 start in SBC play with 4.82 kills per set and a .357 hitting percentage on the week. She currently ranks in the Top-5 in the conference in kills with a 3.53 per set average. Her 40 kills against ULM and ULL was second-most in conference play after the first weekend.

The outside-hitter posted a .581 hitting mark against ULM, which is the third highest attack percentage by a Sun Belt player this year, and landed 19 kills – the second most in the SBC in a three-setter. She also tallied 21 kills and 11 digs against Louisiana-Lafayette. For the week, Dillard posted 1.91 digs per set and also logged three blocks.  

Dillard will look to keep the Mean Green (16-5, 2-0 SBC) undefeated in conference play as they hit the road this weekend for matches against Arkansas State on Friday and UALR on Saturday.

Potts, from Louisville, Ky., led team in digs for the week and in each of the Lady Toppers three matches. She scooped up 18 digs against Belmont to start the week, and 12 against both South Alabama and Troy over the weekend. The defensive specialist ranks fourth in the SBC in digs this season with a 4.61 average per set. Her 4.00 average over the weekend was best in the SBC to start conference play.

The junior also helped hold WKU’s opponents to a .122 hitting percentage this week, as each team hit under .190. Potts led the team with two service aces against South Alabama, and has recorded 15-consecutive multi-dig matches. She leads team with 304 digs this season and is second in assists with 41.

Potts will look to guide WKU (16-3, 2-0 SBC) to its ninth consecutive victory on Friday with a road match at Louisiana-Lafayette.

Check out www.sunbeltsports.org throughout the week for updated SBC volleyball news, stats and scores.